Dodgers release statement as US-Venezuela situation leaves players stranded

Edgardo Henriquez has been spending his winter in his native Venezuela, pitching for La Tiburones de la Guaira in Caracas. Following the US's arrest and extraction of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and his wife on Jan. 3, Henriquez and top Dodgers prospect Eduardo Quintero's path back to the States is in limbo.

Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes was quick to address the situation. "We've been in contact with our guys and are trying to assist in any way we can obviously," he said. "I don't really care about the baseball side of it right now. I just want to make sure our guys are in a good place and we're trying to help out where we can.

"Everybody is in a good place right now seemingly. It's a little slower than anybody would like. Our goal is to stay in contact with them and do whatever we can to help them get out as soon as we can."

Commercial travel from Venezuela into the United States has, unsurprisingly, been complicated by the situation and will remain dicey while Maduro is in US custody. It's unclear at this point if Henriquez and Quintero will be able to return in time for spring training if they see out the rest of the Venezuelan League's season.

Venezuelan Dodgers players Edgardo Henriquez, Eduardo Quintero's futures uncertain amid international situation

Henriquez is likely to fight for a roster spot in the bullpen this spring, while Quintero, who has earned a lot of offseason hype and is Baseball America's No. 1 Dodgers prospect in 2026, could be a spring training NRI despite not having cracked High-A yet.

Of course, the Dodgers are going to take things one step at a time and are rightfully more concerned about the safety of their players than their ability to perform in spring training right now.

The Dodgers' recent responses to international and/or political events that impact both players and fans have been imperfect, but Gomes and the Dodgers are doing the right thing getting ahead of the situation and remaining in close contact with their players. Hopefully, both Henriquez and Quintero will stay safe and be able to rejoin the team whenever possible.